


Sontaim Strik Natblida

by prisoner319



Category: The 100 (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-15 22:15:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14798991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prisoner319/pseuds/prisoner319
Summary: Snippets of the legends Clarke regales Madi with over their 6 years alone together.Characters and relationships will be updated as the story progresses.





	1. Welcome to the Valley

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first foray into fanfic, so be gentle, I guess?  
> It starts in 5x01, right after Clarke leaves the drawing of Madi for her to find.
> 
> Word in italics are my version of Clarke's thoughts. Words in bold italics are lines from canon provided for emphasis to indicate specific memories that flash through her mind when telling Madi stories.
> 
> Everything in bold italics is credited to The 100 writers and the amazing content they provide us, which allows us to care about these characters so deeply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word in italics are my version of Clarke's thoughts. Words in bold italics are lines from canon, provided for emphasis to indicate specific memories that flash through Clarke's mind when telling Madi stories.
> 
> Everything in bold italics is credited to The 100 writers and the amazing content they provide, which allows us feel so deeply for these characters.

Clarke knows leaving the drawing on the rock won’t be enough to get this child to trust her, but she has to start somewhere. Besides, the little girl has been her shadow her for days. Clarke can feel it in her bones, even when she doesn’t catch glimpses of the inquisitive gaze. It’s reminiscent of the dropship landing, after Jasper was attacked and it became clear they weren't alone.

 

The trees in these woods may as well have eyes of their own.

 

Only this time, Clarke knows whose eyes are watching her every move as she cleans her wounds, tidies her adopted home, suns by the lake, draws under the shade, and tries but fails repeatedly at fishing.

 

She has a routine by now that this little girl is as much a part of as possible without being part of it at all. When Clarke manages to prepare meals, she always leaves small portions out on her windowsill. She never offers directly, but as she busies herself with other activities, she comes back to find the food is gone. In the mornings, the plate has always been returned.

 

She talks to Bellamy every day. It helps her stay grounded. As if being anything other than grounded is an option now. Many days, Clarke wonders how her friends are, how her mother is doing. Unfortunately, her light thoughts can all too quickly turn to terror, terror over who might not have survived, who she’s already sacrificed, how the bunker may be lost under the ruins of Polis forever, how she and this child may truly be the last of the human race.

 

The wild haired little girl of the woods begins to occupy her waking thoughts. _How is she still here? Who were her parents? Should she not have been in Polis with the other novitiates under Lexa’s tutelage?_

 

Whatever the reason the girl remains in Shallow Valley, Clarke is grateful. She may have survived Praimfaya, but she never would’ve survived Ontari to face it, no matter how fierce she is for a child her age.

 

_How old is she anyway?_

 

It’s been raining the past few days and Clarke can tell because she’s in her damn head again. It’s bad enough when the dreams come, but not being able to busy herself during the days is almost more than she can bear. **_I bear it so they don’t have to._**

 

When the clouds recede, she jumps at the chance to spend some time drawing at her favorite outcropping, the one just over the lake and under the trees, where the lighting is perfect and the breeze is everything she dreamt it would be when she was in that metallic, lifeless cell on the Ark.

 

This is the Earth they were promised. **_For all its faults, Earth is really beautiful._** Too bad there’s essentially nothing left of it. As it happens though, Clarke has lived enough lifetimes in the past year to learn that broken things can heal, against all odds, even that which has been destroyed can find its way back. The Earth will repair itself and Clarke looks forward to witnessing, to capturing every moment of it.

 

She snaps out of her reverie. Today, she’s drawn Octavia. The warrior, not the scared girl raised under the floor. The more she thinks about it, that always made O a warrior in her own right. She can only imagine what Bellamy had to contend with while raising her. **_Every stupid thing you did, it was to protect your sister. She didn't always see that, but I did._**

 

There’s no denying this image is of a warrior however, not as Clarke runs her fingers over the charcoal where she’s etched Octavia as she appeared in the Conclave. Skaikru’s champion. A far cry from the little girl Bellamy claimed responsibility over.

 

O’s barely recognizable this way, but beautiful still, and Clarke thinks this will interest her new friend, so as has become her practice, she leaves this drawing as well.

 

She's several feet away when she’s yanked out of the silence to which she’s grown accustomed, by the sound of another human voice. A small, yet proud voice.

 

“Hod up! Chon yu bilaik? Chon dison bilaik?” [Wait! Who are you? Who is this?], the wild haired girl calls after her.

 

Clarke turns back and smiles. “Ai laik Klark kom Skaikru. Yu gada sen in sontaim, strik natblida?” [I am Clarke of the Sky People. Do you want to hear a story, little Nightblood?]

 

The girl nods her head slowly and Clarke returns to her seat.

 


	2. Okteivia kom Skaikru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Madi's ready to talk, with surprising results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word in italics are my version of Clarke's thoughts. Words in bold italics are lines from canon, provided for emphasis to indicate specific memories that flash through Clarke's mind when telling Madi stories.
> 
> Everything in bold italics is credited to The 100 writers and the amazing content they provide, which allows us feel so deeply for these characters.

**Okteivia kom Skaikru**

 

Story time is proving more difficult than Clarke anticipated. How do you explain 97 years in space to a feral child who lures people into bear traps and doesn't speak English? There are few reference points, few commonalities between their worlds. She figures Octavia is as good a place to start as any.

 

"Okteivia kom Skaikru." Clarke points at the drawing. "Honon. Gona. Osleya." [Prisoner. Warrior. Champion.]

 

The girl continues to study the picture, almost boring a hole into it with her inquisitive stare. It's as if she's trying to see something that isn't there, trying to asses who this person really is and whether Clarke is telling the truth. Seemingly hours pass before the girl stirs.

 

"Madi kom Louwoda Kliron Kru," [Shadow Valley Clan] she says, motioning to herself. "Natblida." She waves back to the picture. "Heda?"

 

Clarke feels a familiar pain surge from deep within. One more love sacrificed at the altar of pointless war. One more death she carries. **_I don’t want the next Commander. I want you._**

 

Well, this isn't exactly what she envisioned for her first conversation with the little girl. _Madi._

 

"Nou. Heda em gonplei ste odon." [No. Heda's fight is over.]

 

Madi tenses as she drops the picture, looks up with genuine fear in her eyes, and starts scrambling away on her dirty hands and feet. "Fleimkepa!" [Flamekeeper!]

 

Clarke immediately calls after her. "Nou! Nou, Madi! Lukot. Lukot." [No! No, Madi! Friend. Friend.]

 

Madi stills, but remains several feet away, hesitant as Clarke continues.

 

 

*This is where shit gets weird because it would take me approximately 8 million years to translate all this into Trigedasleng, soooo just assume that’s what they’re speaking until I say otherwise. I’ll use the spelling for character names and common words. Cool? Cool.*

 

 

“We came from the castle in the sky. Okteivia and I. There were 101 of us, including her bro, Belomi. We were prisoners. They said we were bad children. Sending us to the ground was our punishment.”

 

“What did Okteivia do?” The answer seems to relax Madi and she inches forward with each word.

 

“She was born,” Clarke says, which clearly confuses the girl. “In our castle, no one was allowed to have more than one yongon, but Okteivia’s nomon already had a yongon. Her bro took care of her. He had to hide her under the floor so the monsters wouldn’t find her.”

 

“Hakom?” [Why?]

 

“Her nomon would be killed if Okteivia was found.”

 

“Hakom?”

 

“She broke the rules. The castle was running out of air and there is no air in the sky.”

 

“Hakom?”

 

Clarke finds herself unable to hold in a slight chuckle. As it turns out, grounder kids really aren’t that different from sky kids. Unfortunately, all the whys in the world won’t give this tale a happy ending.

 

“You know, I’m not really sure.”

 

“Then, what happened?”

 

“The monsters found Okteivia when she was a little older.”

 

“Did they kill her nomon?”

 

 _Do I tell her? It’s not as if she’s a stranger to death. The whole world has literally burst into flames around her. Everyone is gone._ Clarke shrugs and sighs.

 

“Yes.” And it’s so clean. So final.

 

Once again, they’re enveloped by a familiar silence. Madi slips back into her deep contemplation and Clarke swears if she thinks any harder, the gears in her tiny mind will squeak. Finally, the child bows her head. Her voice comes out small.

 

“Did my nomon run out of air too?”

 

Clarke is taken aback by the question. She’s never considered the parallel. Another thing their cultures share after the second apocalypse.

 

“Yes.”

 

“And my nontu?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Ok.”

 

This seems to be the end of the conversation for now. Madi gets up and starts to walk away, but suddenly runs back, grabs Clarke’s hand, and starts to pull her toward a small home. She’s almost having to sprint to keep up with Madi. Being raised in the woods has its advantages, it would seem.

 

Madi pulls her inside, finally drops her hand, walks over to the corner of the room, and lifts a rug. Underneath, there is a hinge to what is clearly a small door. She pulls the door open and motions for Clarke to look inside.

 

The space is barely bigger than the child herself and is littered with the drawings Clarke left over the past several weeks. The realization hits her, almost crushes her chest. Madi is Octavia. She hid here from her own monsters, the Flamekeeper scouts who wanted her only for the color of her blood.

 

Clarke’s eyes fill with tears and without thinking, she hugs the child. It’s abrupt and she fears Madi will wiggle from her grasp or worse, but after a beat, she feels small hands snake around her waist and an unruly mane rest against her stomach. In this moment, Clarke gets it, gets Bellamy and Octavia on a deeper level than ever before. **_My child. My responsibility._**

****


	3. Klark kom Skaikru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Madi has questions about Clarke.
> 
> They're still speaking Trigedasleng. I'll use the common words and names, but can't translate the full conversations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Word in italics are my version of Clarke's thoughts. Words in bold italics are lines from canon, provided for emphasis to indicate specific memories that flash through Clarke's mind when telling Madi stories.
> 
> Everything in bold italics is credited to The 100 writers and the amazing content they provide, which allows us feel so deeply for these characters.

* * *

**Klark kom Skaikru**

 

The girls return much to their previously established routine after the moment passes. Madi is clearly still skittish and Clarke is learning to flex her patience muscles. After all, they have 5 years to perfect this dance.

 

Throughout the day, Clarke hunts, gathers fruit, draws, and cooks. In the mornings, she talks to Bellamy. And Madi? Madi watches. When she’s not off fishing or having some other woodland adventures Clarke can only wonder about, she’s watching. Thinking. Learning.

 

One thing has changed, however. Sometimes, instead of leaving food on the windowsill, Clarke finds freshly caught fish placed delicately for her to prepare. After a few rounds of trial and error, she quickly discerns that Madi likes them slightly burnt around the edges.

 

Plates still manage to find their way back by morning.

 

Several days have passed since their last conversation and Clarke has been on the radio all morning trying to reach Bellamy. “I’m not sure if you can hear me, but I want you to know I’m safe. I’m in Shallow Valley Clan territory. This place is incredible, Bellamy. I know I’ve said it before, but I can’t wait for you to see it. There are so many types of fruit in near endless supply. And there’s color everywhere. It’s unlike anything we ever imagined.” She pauses as tears speckle her eyes. “Please be alive, Bellamy. I need you to be alive, to come home and see it all for yourself. I need you.” The response, as always, is only static. She sobs for the next hour.

 

After the tears subside and having reached maximum emotional turmoil for the day, Clarke decides to take a break for the afternoon on her usual rock. It’s barely been 10 minutes when she hears something stir in the bushes behind her. Or rather, someone.

 

She doesn't bother to look back. She knows the exact source of the commotion.

 

"What did you do?" Madi interjects abruptly.

 

_So, we ARE talking today._

 

The question leaves Clarke slightly confused. "What do you mean?"

 

"The monsters said you were a bad child. What did you do?"

 

Clarke makes the answer as simple as possible. "I wanted to tell the truth."

 

"My nomon said always tell the truth. Lying is bad."

 

"The monsters didn't always think so."

 

"Hokom?"

 

"They thought if everyone knew what was wrong with the air, people would get hurt."

 

"Did they?"

 

"Did they what?"

 

"Did they get hurt?"

 

"Yes, but not because I told the truth. I couldn't. The monsters caught me and locked me away in a tower all alone." **_Prisoner three-one-nine, face the wall._**

 

"Like a princess?"

 

Clarke smirks and nods. "Like a princess." **_Brave Princess._**

 

“What did you do all alone?”

 

"I drew pictures up there too. In the tower. Pictures of what’s it’s like down here.” _**I _f_ eel the sun on my face. I see trees all around me, the scent of wildflowers on a breeze. It's so beautiful. In this moment, I'm not stranded in space. **_“I never thought I would get to see it for real."

 

“Hokum?”

 

“We all thought the ground would kill us.” **_Stop! The air could be toxic._**

 

Madi’s face scrunches. “You think everything will kill you.” **_If the air is toxic, we're all dead, anyway._**

 

Clarke laughs. “Yes, I suppose so.”

 

“So why did you come?”

 

“The monsters made me. They decided to send all the bad children down here so there would be more air for other people.” **_They're killing us all, aren't they? Reducing population to make more time for the rest of you?_**

 

“They tried to kill you.” It wasn’t a question.

 

“Yes.” **_Clarke, you are not being executed. You're being sent to the ground, all one hundred of you._**

 

“Did you fall out of the sky?”

 

“It was a little bit like that. We came down on a dropship.”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“Well, it’s like… I don’t really know what it’s like.” Clarke looks around for anything she can use as a starting point. “Hod up. You see that over there?”

 

She motions toward the Rover and Madi nods.

 

“It’s like that. Technology. Made out of metal. You sit in it and put on a belt so you don’t fly away. There were 100 of us on it. Well, 101, including Bellamy. Most of us were fine, but 2 kids didn’t put on their belts.”

 

“Did they fly away?”

 

 _Only the facts with this kid._ “Sort of. They floated until we hit the atmosphere.”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“It’s the layer of air between the sky and space.”

 

“What’s space?”

 

“It’s where the sun and the moon and the stars are.”

 

“What happened then?”

 

“The ship crashed on the ground.”

 

“Did they get hurt?”

 

_Here we go again. Is this not the very thing that defines the last year of my life? That defines me?_

 

“They died.” **_Why so serious, Princess? It's not like we died in a fiery explosion._**

 

Madi looks unaffected as she ponders for a moment. Clarke can tell she’s reasoning it all out through her signature process. “They should have put on the belts.” she says matter of factly.

 

 ** _T_ _ry telling that to the two guys who tried to follow you out of their seats._** “Yes. They should have.”

 

"Ok. Madi ponders for a moment. "Do you want to go swimming now?"

 

"Sure."Grateful to see this conversation end, Clarke leaves her ghosts on the rock for the day and tries to enjoy a moment for herself with the wild haired child she thinks will either heal or destroy her. _Maybe both._


	4. Belomi kom Skaikru Part 0.5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today may not be Clarke's best day to answer questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I imagine Clarke had some hard days, even as she and Madi were getting to know each other. This is very short. It's also very painful. Come, friends. Hurt with me.
> 
>  
> 
> Word in italics are my version of Clarke's thoughts. Words in bold italics are lines from canon, provided for emphasis to indicate specific memories that flash through Clarke's mind when telling Madi stories.
> 
> Everything in bold italics is credited to The 100 writers and the amazing content they provide, which allows us feel so deeply for these characters.

**Belomi kom Skaikru [A Barely There Introduction]**

 

"Where is Belomi?"

 

Madi catches Clarke off guard in the middle of her daily broadcast. She's having a particularly difficult day and isn't sure whether the mention of Bellamy soothes or stings. "What do you mean?"

 

"You always talk to that box. Is he in there?"

 

Clarke chuckles slightly. "No, he's not in there. This is a radio."

 

"What's a radio?"

 

"It lets you communicate with people who are far away."

 

"Hokum?"

 

"So you can always talk to the people you care about, even when you're not together."  **_You care about him._ **

 

"Then, where is Belomi?"

 

"Back in the castle."

 

Madi looks confused. "Why would he go back there after what the monsters did?"

 

"It was the only way he could survive Praimfaya."

 

"You wanted to go with him." It wasn't a question.

 

"Very much."

 

"Why didn't you?"

 

"I told him to leave me. I had to do something to save all my friends."  **_Ai gonplei ste odon._ **

 

Madi becomes almost offended. She practically sneers. "He doesn't care about you."

 

Clarke immediately feels tears flood her eyes. "Why would you..." she stammers. "Why would you say that?"

 

Madi is visibly angry now. "He never answers you." 

 

"Oh." Clarke pauses and motions for Madi to calm down. "No. No, it's okay. He would if he could."  _ Wouldn't he? _

 

"Then, why can't he?" Madi settles, but the question demands an answer.

 

Clarke gazes out into the distant sky as if longingly awaiting an answer that's just beyond her vision, barely out of reach. The tears that have been threatening to fall flow freely now. She can't bring herself to consider all the possibilities. "I don't know."

 

She slumps off her chair and onto the ground while Madi inches closer and quietly slides underneath her shoulder. Startled at first, Clarke goes rigid, but soon feels herself relax. They rest like this, in each others' arms, until the sun is high in the sky. Clarke stirs first. She kisses Madi's forehead. "Thank you, Natblida." Madi still slumbers.


End file.
